We had so much fun with you all at the Hyattsville Arts Festival on September 20! Thank you to all the kid reporters who pitched in to help us cover this great event put on by the Hyattsville Community Development Corporation! Check out their artist profiles below.
By FANA and ALEX
“When I was a kid I made arts and crafts and did art in school,” said painter Liz Aukamp LaGarde. “I just kept practicing.” The hardest part about being an artist, according to LaGarde, is “doing things alone.” At the festival, LaGarde loves seeing everybody look at the art and talking to people. “I like painting nature,” she said, including vegetables. “Vegetables are something you find every day.”
By GENEVIEVE and SADIE
Chabolla got started making art through art therapy classes. He finds it hard to stay colorful! It can take him from a day to a week to make his paintings. A visitor said they liked the variety of vibrant colors and textures.
Regina Calvin Afro Realness Art
By LUCIE ROSS
“I’ve always been an artist; even when I was a kid I loved to draw,” said artist Regina Calvin. Sometimes she doesn’t have time to do it since she works two jobs. It was her first time at Arts & Ales, according to Calvin, “so, I’m here for the ride,” she said. An image of an African American woman with a draped hat showed contrasting hews of gold and yellow. “I love the bags, the color, and the fabric is super soft,” said customer Sasha.
Mystic Water Soapworks LLC (Michelle Burns)
By EVELYN ROSS
“It started as a hobby,” said soapmaker Michelle Burns, whose business of making soap the old-fashioned way challenges her because she makes so many different products. One of her soaps is called Irish Traveller. It has beautiful color like the ocean and crystal. This reporter thought it was the most beautiful piece of art she had ever seen.
Butta Customs by Tone Carter
By FRANCISCO COLOMBO
Tone Carter got his start in art drawing Dragon Ball Z (a japanese anime television series) in middle school. “I grew up in New York City,” he said “I created five characters, kids that use graffiti and street art to preserve their culture. Carter sometimes finds it difficult not to allow others to influence his work. he loves the Hyattsville Arts Festival, and comes every year. A piece in the booth, titled “Liberation Man” had a screen for a head, which was pretty cool and odd.
By VIV TANA
“I’ve drawn my whole life, and about five years ago I decided to pursue a more creative career,” said artist Sheree Brand. “Putting yourself out there” can be hard. She thinks the Hyattsville Arts festival is a good, well-organized event. Asked if it was easy to make her art, she said “sometimes!”. Her medium, she explained, is digital. A picture of two dancing skeletons particularly struck the reviewer.
Makin’ It Hers by Teria Walters
By JACK GAUTHIER
Teria Walters has been an artist ever since she was a child. She went to college for graphic design. The hardest thing about being an artist, she says, is handling negative feedback. Walters wants to make art that represents her as an artist and a woman. She has self-designed prints of famous women with inspiring quotes from them. “It’s an inspiration, a reminder of the power of a woman’s voice,” said a visitor ot her booth. It was Walters’ first time at the Hyattsville Arts Festival, she said. “Its been a great time out.”
By BETTY LULU
Bobbi Kittner got started being an artist by learning embroidery. She works in mixed media, Nothing about being an artist is difficult for her! “I love it,” she said about the festival.
Different by Design, by Jackie and Mitzi Foster
By LUCIE ROSS
For Jackie Foster, being an artist started as “just a hobby, then it became more.”
She finds her work most challenging when “you hit an inspiration, but then you get an artist block.” She said “the finished product” is her favorite thing about art. And the festival? “It’s nice,” she said, “we’ve done it for a few years.”